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Samsung Galaxy Note 2 vs S3: Family Spat

It appears that Samsung’s best smartphones for this year are going to be the Galaxy S3 and the Note 2. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has sold more than 20 million already, and the Note 2 is attracting a lot of attention thanks to its amazing features, hardware and the fact that it comes preloaded with Android Jelly Bean.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Processor: The US version of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has a dual-core Snapdragon 1.5GHz chip and the international version has a quad-core Exynos 4412 1.4GHz Cortex A9 chip. The international version doesn’t have 4G LTE though. The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is faster than both S3 versions as it has a quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos 4412 Cortex A9 chip which will also support LTE.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has LTE, 4G and NFC. The US version has 2GB of RAM (the international S3 has 1GB RAM). You also get to choose from 16GB, 32GB and 64GB of storage, which can be expanded by up to 64GB with a microSD card. The 8MP rear camera and the 1.9MP front snapper are both HD-capable, and there’s also a Mali 400 GPU and a 2,100mAh Li-ion battery.

The Note 2 is pretty similar, with NFC, LTE, 4G and 2GB of RAM, as well as the three standard storage options. It only has up to 32GB of microSD support. It has the same 8MP and 1.9MP cameras and a Mali 400 GPU. It also has one massive 3,300mAh Li-ion battery.

Design: The S3 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 even look alike, and both are also very similar to their predecessors. The Samsung Galaxy S3 is 133g and 136.6×70.6×8.6mm, and the Note 2 is 151.1×80.5×9.4mm and a hefty 180g. The S3 wins out on practicality and portability features as the Note 2 is bordering on tablet dimensions.

Both phones have serious screenage. The Samsung Galaxy S3 has that 4.8” screen and the Note 2 a 5.5” display. Both are Super AMOLED with the same number of pixels, although this means that the S3 has a higher density – 306ppi rather than 267ppi.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 came out in May with Ice Cream Sandwich, but to keep up with the Note 2 it needs that long-awaited Jelly Bean update, as the Note 2 already has it.

Verdict: The Note 2 is a bigger faster Samsung Galaxy S3 with the added benefit of S-Pen. If you’re after these features, or your existing Note is getting on a bit, then it’s the Note 2 for you.